Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 4. Oktober
2005 / Time Line October 4, 2005
Version 3.5
3. Oktober 2005, 5. Oktober 2005
10/04/2005
Aegis Defence Services, Lt Col Tim Spicer and the murder of
Peter McBride
Track Record of British Mercenary Outfit in Iraq
by Pat Finucane Human Rights Centre
http://www.serve.com/pfc/index.html
This open letter has been sent to the Comptroller General of the US
Government Accountability Office, (GAO), Mr David Walker and to the
General Counsel, Mr Anthony Gamboa, following the GAO decision to
deny a protest against the awarding of a $293 million dollar Iraq
private security contract to Aegis Defence Services, the British
firm led by former Scots Guard officer Tim Spicer. Please contact
these individuals and request that the contract be reviewed.
Suggested text: - I wish to add my voice to those protesting the
awarding of a $293 million dollar Iraq private security contract to
Lt Col Tim Spicer of Aegis Defence Services.
The Comptroller General Mr David Walker can be phoned at 202 512
5500 or
email his office at millerb@gao.gov
The General Counsel Mr Anthony H Gamboa can be phoned at 202 512
5400 or email his office at gamboaa@gao.gov
Open Letter to
Mr David M Walker
Comptroller General of the US Government Accountability Office
and
Mr Anthony H Gamboa
General Counsel to the US Government Accountability Office
Washington DC 20548
Pat Finucane Centre for Human Rights
October 4 2004 Derry, Ireland
Aegis Defence Services, Lt Col Tim Spicer and the murder of Peter
Mc Bride
Dear Mr Walker and Mr Gamboa,
In a decision dated September 13 2004 your office denied a protest
lodged by Dyncorp International against the awarding of a $293
million dollar private security contract in Iraq to the British
based company Aegis Defence Services. Your decision was that
Dyncorp lacked the direct economic interest necessary to pursue
these challenges.
With respect you have completely missed the point. We believe the
contract should and must be reviewed from a human rights and rule
of law perspective. Our concern is that a contentious contract has
been awarded to a company, Aegis Defence Services, led by an
individual, Lt Col Tim Spicer, who is totally unfit in our view to
be put in charge of armed individuals in conflict situations. As
you will be aware Tim Spicer has been linked to mercenary
activities in Papua New Guinea and Sierra Leone. His close
associate in Sandline International, Simon Mann, is currently
serving a prison sentence because of his involvement in an
attempted coup.
Of specific concern to us is his earlier employment as a commanding
officer of a regiment of the British Army, the Scots Guards, in
Belfast in 1992. Soldiers under his command murdered an unarmed
teenager, Peter Mc Bride, and were convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment. Disgracefully, these soldiers, Mark Wright and James
Fisher, were granted early release outside the terms of the Good
Friday Agreement and allowed to rejoin their regiment. One of the
senior officers involved in that decision, retired General Sir
Roger Wheeler, is currently an advisor to Aegis Defence Services
(see Aegis website). The retention of these soldiers, which has
caused a furore in Ireland and abroad, is currently the focus of
ongoing legal action.
Immediately following the murder, Spicer intended to send the
soldiers straight back on patrol, contrary to British Army
regulations. In his view this was akin to getting straight back on
a horse when you have been thrown. On a number of occasions since,
including in his biography, he has asserted that his soldiers did
no wrong and should never have been charged. Despite the findings
of a court of law he has sought to portray an entirely untruthful
version of the incident and has made false and wildly inaccurate
allegations about the incident and the deceased, Peter Mc Bride.
This has caused great hurt to the family of the victim.
To summarise;
Lt Col Tim Spicer asserts that the soldiers who shot an unarmed
teenager in the back, having searched him, did no wrong. In our
view this is a totally unsuitable individual to be awarded such a
potentially controversial contract in Iraq. Individuals linked to
private security companies have been linked to allegations of
torture and murder in Iraq. The US Government and President Bush
can ill afford the possibility of future scandals in particular
where you have been forewarned that private security in Iraq is the
responsibility of a company led by an individual who asserts that
soldiers under his command and who commit murder should not be
subject to the rule of law. This administration and the Government
Accountability Office will not be in a position to plead ignorance
to a future Congressional or Senate Committee should it find itself
investigating allegations of human rights abuses by private
security companies.
On August 25 2004 Senators John Kerry, Teddy Kennedy, Hillary
Clinton, Chris Dodd and Charles Schumer wrote to Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld to express concern at this contract and specifically at
Spicers role in the Mc Bride affair.
According to their letter,
The United States Government requires all contractors to be
"responsible bidders". Contractors have to "have a satisfactory
record of integrity and business ethics" (48 CFR 9.104-1(d)). We
would like to know whether the government considered human rights
abuses - or an individual who vigorously defends them - as part of
this record.
Additionally, the United States Government requires consideration
of the contractor's "past performance" (48 CFR 15.304(c)(3)). We
would like to know whether the contracting team adequately reviewed
the contractor's record, identified past human rights abuses or
defense of abuses, and whether the contractor received a poor past
performance rating on that basis.
We would also like to know the extent to which these factors were
evaluated in awarding this contract to Aegis. If they were
evaluated, we would like to know the rationale for awarding the
contract.
In light of the recent revelations of abuses of detainees in Iraq,
it is important that U.S. actions, whether by military personnel or
contractors, have respect for the law. It is troubling that the
Government would award a contract to an individual with a history
of supporting excessive use of force against a civilian
population.
We urge you to reconsider the awarding of this contract to Aegis
Defence Services, not from the narrow criteria outlined in your
decision but from a human rights and rule of law perspective.
Yours,
Paul OConnor
Project Co-ordinator
The murder of Peter McBride
http://www.serve.com/pfc/pmcbride/mcbindex.html
10/04/2005
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